sneak peek: adrian richardson + family

Two years ago, Australian chef Adrian Richardson and his family moved into this Victorian cottage in North Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne. They needed a suitable home for raising an active, noisy young family that also felt warm and inviting. Within that short length of time, Adrian and his wife created an inspiring space that reflects their love of travel, food and junk-shop treasures. In addition to raising three energetic young boys with his wife, Adrian owns and runs the bustling La Luna Bistro in the Carlton North suburb of Melbourne. He has written two cookbooks, The Good Life and Meat, and has presented cooking shows in several countries. After putting in long hours at the restaurant, Adrian likes nothing more than coming home to read, play and listen to music with his boys. Thank you, Adrian! And thank you Stewart, Andrew and Lynda from Horton & Co. for the beautiful photographs! — Shannon

Image above: The house is a typical Victorian Hawthorn brick worker’s cottage that is quite small when looking from the front. It’s amazing that after more than 100 years, it still looks great.

Image above: The house is a real eclectic mix of rustic, retro and quirky pieces picked up all over the place. The sitting room is a haven to read and listen to music away from the kids. The sofa is an heirloom, the coffee tables are new Eames. A friend of ours runs Retrocollectit, a little store of old wares that I can’t stop myself from collecting.

See more of Adrian’s Melbourne home after the jump . . .

Image above: There is always a meal on the go — with three very active boys, my wife loves setting the table with a mix of pretty, formal dinnerware in a more rustic, homey style. The old timber table is a family heirloom, and the chairs are vintage fiberglass Eames that we stumbled over in a garage sale for a bargain!

Image above: More travel finds including heaps of silverware (which I love to collect) and little toy soldiers, which the boys love to play war games with — better than fighting with each other, I say!

Image above: The kitchen is the heart of our home. There is always plenty of fresh food from someone’s garden and often something on the boil or baking away in the oven. My wife is an excellent cook, and we are both very passionate about food. We love to use cookware we have collected over the years; I have a real passion for copper and heavy cast-iron cookware.

Image above: We also have a very large and assorted collection of cooking and travel books and knick knacks from our travels. In this photo, there are some vintage pottery pieces from Bitossi and other quirky Italian pieces.

Image above: My wife likes things with character. Often things will appear in the house, and I know they weren’t bought in a shop — treasures, she likes to call them. Either I get used to them or she gets rid of them, but they do add character to the house. More miscellaneous pieces picked up all over the place — the rugs are from the Junk Shop in North Melbourne, the coffee table is an old battered piece of industrial waste from Industria and the side table is an old Chinese tea chest from my auntie. The artwork above the sofa is by Rona Green, one of my favorite Melbourne artists.

Image above: The vintage French 50s blue birds where a gift from a dear friend. I love reading lamps and have collected a few over the years. Apart from the office at the restaurant, we have a few scattered about the house. This one I found in a junk shop with labels and a price tag from McEwen’s (a very old-school Melbourne hardware shop that sadly no longer exists) still attached.

Image above: Striped rug and teepee from IKEA. Vintage Harry Bertoia chair, dragged up from the garden to look at my son’s bug collection. Luckily there’s no mud stuck to it this time.

Image above: We have a very large collection of Little Golden Books that we pick up from markets and second-hand shops; one of the bedtime favorites is I Can Fly. Alexander Girard dolls from Vitra and vintage policemen money boxes from our travels in the UK.

Image above: One of the main reasons we bought our house was for the backyard; we love gardening and entertaining in the garden, and in winter we will often light a little fire and cook outside. In summer it’s beer, cheeses and homemade salami with lots of fresh veggies, nice and simple. Chairs by Thonet — I love them because they are sturdy and solid.

Image above: Somewhere for the kids to go a bit wild, this also doubles as a handball court. We play our own version called “cheat ball,” and the rules change depending on who is serving. Young boys are so competitive, just like Dad. The scooter and red wagon were family hand-me-downs, and we love the vintage Harry Bertoia chairs.

When I first saw this house I thought this had to be either in Clifton Hill or North Fitzroy – in my neck of the woods. Then I saw it was Adrian’s house! What a nice suprise to see a chef’s house on DS – very unexpected. This house is warm, inviting and a real home! I enjoy watching Good Chef/Bad Chef. I am a bit of a carnivore myself but I also like to be a bit healthy! Thanks for the lovely sneak peak from OZ

When I saw Adrian Richardson was in DS I thought it must be another Adrian Richardson from the USA. What a lovely surprise! I love Adrian on his program Good Chef Bad Chef . And what a beautiful house!

This is a beautiful Victorian terrace, located in a wonderful part of Melbourne – lucky ducks! Apart from the elegant sitting room however, I’m not really inspired by the interior. There seems to be a lovely collection of retro/vintage/designer items there but I don’t think it’s captured well. It seems more a ubiquitous space rather than ‘eclectic’ or representing a personal style. Maybe it’s the photography or lighting – I can’t put my finger on it. Sorry!

Such eclectic spaces! How lovely to see a home so laden with quirky stories and meaning. Love the polished concrete floors next to the traditional and ‘oh so elegant’ skirting boards. Very inspiring :)

I love the tipi as well but am also somewhat gaga over that tarnished yellow coffee table and the chalkboard in the backyard. excellent look overall, very colorful and varied in terms of individual designs.

this is a lovely home – living in inner city Melbourne, I can totally understand how spatially challenging such houses can be. But this house and decor really gives me a few ideas on how to go about renovating our house.

Thank you for showing me your lovely home. McEwens Hardware Store was the first place I ever worked, so your lamp brought back memories. I love your show and your banter with Janella. Your recipes that you whip up so fast take me MUCH longer but I love their simplicity.

Mr Richardson
I look forward to your programs on Webtv which I only recently got here in Jamaica and am anxious to try the BEEF WELLINGTON !
I think your home is absolutely lovely and so warm and inviting. It reminds me of my own home in Kingston.
Keep up the good work and Blessings to you and your family.

Just found your show on Wealth TV here in Texas. Love it. Tape all the shows. You make everything look so easy to prepare. Also love the little blurbs you write on the oven. Have never been to Australia (always has been a dream of mine) but if I ever got there I’dd want to eat at your restaurant. Have you written a cookbook? One of my hobbies, even at 85 I read them like novels. Thank you for all the enjoyable hours I’ve gotten from your show.

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